It's possible to make crunchy, flavor-filled Air Fryer Vietnamese Spring Rolls wrapped in rice paper. A delicious dairy-free, gluten-free meal!
My family has a favorite Vietnamese restaurant - Golden Bird in Edmonton's Chinatown. They don't have a website, and they don't offer any online ordering or food delivery services, but their food is amazing.
Although they have a huge menu, every member of my family has a menu item that we each order every time we go. I always get a vermicelli bowl with a variety of toppings, and we always order a plate of spring rolls. It is widely believed that Golden Bird has the best spring rolls in Edmonton, and I would have to agree.
While the restaurant was closed for an extended time during the pandemic, I was forced to learn how to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls myself to fill the spring roll void. I was surprised to discover that they turned out pretty similarly to the Golden Bird ones, but there was one big drawback. The spring rolls were deep-fried, and I hate deep-frying at home.
I've wondered for a long time if there was a way to make crispy spring rolls without deep-frying, and using the air-fryer seemed like the obvious solution. So recently, I decided to go ahead and see if if worked.
I made a big batch of spring rolls, and I started with cooking only a few in air fryer just to see how they turned out, and to be able to perfect the technique with the remaining rolls, as needed.
When I first started cooking the rolls, I got really worried. The rolls weren't browning, and they looked chewy, not crispy. But I kept at it, cooked the rolls a little longer, and they browned up nicely and the wrapping turned out nice and crispy. Success!
I cooked the remaining rolls, trying various time and temperature combinations to get the perfect, flavorful, crispy spring rolls. Today, I'm happy to share with you my recipe for Air Fryer Vietnamese Spring Rolls.
How to make Air Fryer Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Making these crispy and delicious air fryer spring rolls starts with making the spring roll filling. Start off by rehydrating the mung bean vermicelli and the wood ear mushrooms, which simply involves soaking them in water while you prep the other ingredients.
Once they're hydrated, drain both and coarsely chop them. Add both, along with coarsely chopped shallot to a food processor. Process until everything is minced, then add the remaining filling ingredients and process again until everything is evenly mixed (use a lower speed for this to avoid over-processing, if available).
Now that your filling is ready, you can start assembling the spring rolls. You will be using rice paper spring roll wrappers, which need to be briefly dipped into water to soften them. I like to add a little sugar to the water to help the spring roll wrappers brown when they're cooking (you won't taste the sugar).
Pour the water into a large plate, or another shallow dish that fits your spring roll wrapper (consider using a pie plate or baking pan). Fully immerse one of the spring roll wrappers in the water for about 5 seconds, then lay the wet wrapper on a clean cutting board.
Place about ¼ cup of the filling about ¼ of the way up from the bottom edge of the wrapper and form it into a 4-5" long log. Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the filling, then both of the sides, then roll up to the top of the wrapper. Place the roll on a cooling rack in a baking sheet, then repeat the assembly process with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Let the spring rolls rest, uncovered in the fridge for an hour before cooking. This helps the wrappers dry out a little, so they cook up nice and crispy. If you need to leave them longer than 2 hours, cover them loosely with plastic.
To cook the spring rolls, brush or spray them lightly but completely with canola or another neutral-flavored cooking oil. Air-fry them for 10 minutes at 425°F, then flip the rolls and cook for another 10 minutes. They should come out nice and golden brown and crispy. If not, flip again and cook for up to 5 more minutes. Serve with nuoc cham (fish sauce dipping sauce), sweet Thai chile sauce, or sriracha.
Air Fryer Vietnamese Spring Rolls Ingredients
- Mung bean vermicelli - Find mung bean vermicelli (these may also be called glass noodles) in the International aisle of a well-stocked grocery store or in an Asian market.
- Dried wood ear mushrooms - You can find dried wood ear mushrooms in a well-stocked Asian market. They will likely be near the other types of dried mushrooms. You might also see them called "black fungus".
- Shallots
- Ground turkey - Although Vietnamese Spring Rolls are typically made with ground pork, I find that using ground turkey tastes similar, and it's what I always have on hand. Feel free to use ground pork instead (or ground chicken).
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Ginger - pro-tip. Keep whole ginger in the freezer and grate with a microplane from frozen.
- Fish sauce - Find fish sauce in the International aisle of a well-stocked grocery store or in an Asian market.
- Canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- Granulated sugar
- Kosher salt or MSG-salt
- White pepper powder - Find white pepper powder in the spice aisle. If you have whole white peppercorns, make sure to grind them fine.
- Round rice paper spring roll wrappers - Find spring roll wrappers in the International aisle of a well-stocked grocery store, or in an Asian market.
- Water - Use whatever water you normally drink. Cold tap water is fine.
Want more ground turkey recipes?
Air Fryer Vietnamese Spring Rolls Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one spring roll (the recipe makes 20 spring rolls). The calculations include ½ teaspoon of additional canola oil to brush each of the spring rolls before air frying.
This recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free as written.
Air Fryer Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place 2.5 ounces (70 g) mung bean vermicelli and ¼ cup (8 g) dried wood ear mushrooms into two separate bowls. Cover each generously with hot water and let them soak for 20-30 minutes (while you're waiting, you can prep the other ingredients).
- Drain the soaked vermicelli and wood ear mushrooms and chop each coarsely, then transfer them to the bowl of a food processor. Add the chopped shallots and pulse the food processor until they are all finely chopped. Add 1 pound (454 g) ground turkey, the grated carrots, minced garlic, grated ginger, 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) fish sauce, 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) canola oil, 1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon (5 g) kosher salt (or MSG-salt), and ¼ teaspoon (0.5 g) white pepper powder to the food processor and process until everything is evenly mixed (don't overprocess - I recommend using low speed if possible).
- Dissolve 2 teaspoons (8 g) granulated sugar in 1 cup (237 ml) water in a large plate or other shallow dish like a baking pan (make sure that your rice paper is able fully fit in the bottom).
- Working with 1 piece of rice paper at a time, fully immerse the paper into the water for about 5 seconds, then remove it and shake off excess water. Lay the wet paper on a cutting board. Scoop about ¼ cup of the turkey mixture on the rice paper about ¼ of the way up from the bottom edge and form it into a roughly 4-5" long log. Fold the bottom edge of the rice paper up over the meat, then the sides, then roll it up towards the top. Repeat with the remaining rice papers and meat.
- Place the wrapped spring rolls onto a cooling rack placed in a baking sheet and place them uncovered in the fridge for at least an hour (if you plan to leave them for longer than 2 hours, I recommend covering them loosely with plastic wrap.)
- When you're ready to cook the spring rolls, remove them from the fridge, and spray or brush them completely with a very thin layer of canola or other neutral-flavored cooking oil. Place them in an air fryer basket or rack and ensure that they're not touching.
- Air fry the spring rolls at 425°F for 10 minutes. Flip the spring rolls, then air fry for another 10 minutes (they should be well-browned and crispy on the outside). Serve with nuoc cham, Thai sweet chili sauce, or sriracha.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons lime juice, 2 Tablespoons fish sauce, 4 Tablespoons cold water, 1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce, and 1 small clove garlic until the sugar is dissolved. Taste the sauce. If it's too strong for you, add an additional 1-2 Tablespoons of water. Refrigerate until ready to use. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
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